Utterly depressing.I still cant believe Badlands ended the way it did,they were so completely brilliant.Maybe it was too good to last I dont know.But what I do know is that it hurts to read them say things about each other the way they did in those interviews...I wonder what Jake thinks now about how it ended.I know in an interview he said he thinks of Ray often and with fondness.I also wonder if Jake contacted Ray when Ray was dying.Did they meet?Did they talk over what happened or did they never meet again or talk after Ray left?

Its just really sad...all the record company wanted was a couple of 'hits' from them....even if it meant doing a Whitesnake type tune....was that such a hardship to just give record company people what they wanted?I dont know,I just miss those days,I miss Ray's beautiful voice,I miss BADLANDS.They were as good as Led Zepllin,at least to me and I hate to think it ended the way it did.

PS,I saw them on that tour when they played the CatHouse in Glasgow...stood 4 feet away from Jakey at his side of the tatge and left 2 hours later nearly deaf from the onslaught.They were fabulous that night...no bickering on stage,no side ways glances nothing to let you know they were on the verge of a split.The only thing I would say is that when Jake came on stage he looked annoyed.....never knew why.

I thought I posted a thankls to Metalhead here? Maybe I forgot to click submit....

Anyway, thanks for the article Metalhead.

Don't get too upset over that Shadow, that is the way it is sometimes. See, regular people that have jobs can't get away with telling the boss to shove it and then do the work the way they want. But rock stars actually think they can get away with that and as long as the public is buying your albums, enough to offset the cost the companies put up, you can. When you don't, well, you know what happens.

Also, being in a band is like being in a dysfunctional family. There are always two that don't get along, there is always one that thinks he is more important than the other members, there is always a drama queen that gets his feeling hurt if you aren't telling him how badass he is all the time, and there is always one can't layoff the chemicals :lol

Bands are always a temporary situation. None of them last forever. All you can do is enjoy what music they put out while they are able to do it and put up with each other.

Somewhere during all of this friction, Tribal Moon (aka Dusk) was recorded. There sure didn't seem to be a problem writing great music and those songs were recorded to try to get a deal with a new record company. I wonder how much of the war was created by the media.

I have the Sun Red Sun video laying around. Ray speaks about Jake, says nothing bad about him, he was just surprised to hear he was working with Mandy Lion. Ray worked on Sun Red Sun after Badlands.

Jake, prior to releasing Dusk, asked Ray's family for permission to dedicate the album to Ray.

My point to this is I'm sure down deep they still respected each other and hopefully they cleared the air

One other point: seeing how the record company treated them, it's no wonder Jake doesn't actively deal with record companies

I heard 'Purple Haze' on the radio and ...... it made the hairs on the back of my neck stood up

Some valid points, but it wouldn't have helped. Badlands wasn't going to survive. The real problem was when all this was going on hard rock was on it's way out and Nirvana and grunge were on their way in.

Superstar caliber acts such as Whitesnake, Scorpions, Warrant, and yes even Poison, were all up shit creek without a paddle while bands like STP, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. took over the music scene and pushed metal out of the mainstream.

Badlands didn't have a chance of survivng the new era because they were not in the same league, money making wise that is, as the top billing performers mentioned above - even if they were getting along, which they weren't.

Musis is a business; just like auto manufacturing, IT services, and real estate. It has to make money for any company to invest in it.

I agree to a certain extent but only as far as your comments on the basis of money making/music making.Badlands could have continued as Jake and the guys were determined to do it whether they had a record contract or not.Lets not forget Jakes colaboration with Mandy Lion and the music they created.Jake did not/does not need to have a recording deal all he needs to do is record on his own or with a band and sell his music online as Prince did for 2 years before his new deal.

Way too much is made of the record companies and the so called influence they have.There are hundreds of artists and bands out there that will never have a number 1 on the chart simply because their motivations lie elsewhere.Small independent labels have as much clout as large companies with the advent of on-line advertising and sales.Large companies only invest REAL money in the Madonnas,Princes and U2s of this world while smaller companies can target a potential audience and will invest long term as oppossed to 1 or 2 years.All this is by the byway of course as we know what happened to Badlands,I just feel that when Metal was pushed to one side with the advent of grunge there was still millions of Metal fansd who hated grunge and longed to see Whitesnake and Poison.

True, you can record an album just to record an album. I was referring to the quote by Ray about having a hit. He understood that the Badlands was on limited time and pushed for a hit.

No way can you compare Jake's situation to Prince. Prince was a musical prodigy when he was like 20. He scored a deal with a major label and had the producing rights when no one else had ever done that before. Plus, the guy is a friggin' genius when it comes to music. Prince could sell millions without anyone's help. You can't say that about Badlands or Jake.

I also agree about the independent's rise in the last couple of years, but that really is a different discussion and still, they cannot compete with the Columbia's, RCA's of the world. They (and the RIAA) still rule the music world.

I talked to some of the artists on the indy labels in Atlanta when I attended Prog Power. ALL of those musicians, as talented as they are, have day jobs. They aren't getting rich playing what they love and that is OK. I am in that category as well and I know there is no deal in my future, even though I really like the music my current band is doing.

Hell, my buddy even had Urban Breed (singer of Tad Morose - a REALLY great singer and nice guy) agreeing to sing on his demos for a flat fee that was really reasonable and affordable for people that are just recording in their homes.

I am pretty sure that even though the indy's cater to smaller markets and lesser known artists, they still have to make money or they won't be in business very long.

Although music is business, it sounds to me that one was more business-minded and the other music-minded. Personalities clash and splits occur. We've seen it before. You've got to have the perfect balance to be successful.

Doobie wrote:Although music is business, it sounds to me that one was more business-minded and the other music-minded. Personalities clash and splits occur. We've seen it before. You've got to have the perfect balance to be successful.

Yep. That always happens when you get 4 or more people together in the same room.

That's a heavy interviews there w/Jake on one side & Ray on the other. I didn't realize there was so much conflict going there! And that their was indeed a female singer by the of Debbie Holiday to replace the swan gator Vocalist Ray Gillen. I'm sorry to that such troubles got into BADLANDS vision: and wish that Ray would of addressed his concerns with his bandmates instead of going out of the realm so to speak. Those are some serious interviews & would like to delve into them a little bit more 'cause I need more time to seriously read it. Anyway, what a pity that Badlands faced that terrible time but we must remember they put out some pretty vintage serious Hard Rock/Blues music. Peace.